DSis adopting a Mastiff cross from her 'D'Ps friend... am I right to be sh*tting bricks?

[SuzySheepSmellsNice]

I am not keen on any kind of fighting-type dog tbh, and nothing is going to change that. I have a toddler (23m) and I don't want to fall out with her over this, but if this dog (she's adopting as the owners are moving into a flat) even looks funny at my DS I swear I will never speak to her again. Do I just ban him from coming round and avoid her house? I am very confused :(

Hi I have a mastiff and my daughter has just turned 3, I have had my mastiff for nearly 2 years. She is like a big teddy bear, would not harm anyone and she also loves people. She has never harmed my children. ( I have 4 ages 12yr - 3yrs) she is very gentle. I love mastiffs, but people seem to think they are vicious, probably due to their size. But every mastiff I have met is far from vicious and very gentle. :)

I will opt for the calm chat option and just avoid the dog I think. I really don't think she knows what she's letting herself in for.
Apparently he's well trained (sits on command etc) but I'm not convinced. Oh well.
I'll mention the pet insurance to her and the drool but I think its pretty much a done deal now...

Wow I'm quite put back about that nanny dog link, a very important reminder of the "a lie repeated becomes the truth". I did actually believe it tbh, must remember that the majority of people on the web are mindless repeaters and to do research, into everything btw, not just dogs.

I think before you rush in you need to give the dog a chance, I got 2 German shepherds 4 years ago and my family assumed the worst so never ever visit! Anyone that says to me that they are scared of dogs I do lock them away tho but the funny this is its me with DC's and a baby so don't know why my family still think I have danger dogs and stay away.

Re the link about Staffies, you can read articles like that forever and convince yourself that they are all psychotic fighting machines, ready to rip the throat out of any passing dog in the street, and indeed, any person.
What the article fails completely to recognise is that dog-dog agression is
Not the same as dog-human agression.
I know a lot of Staffies, living in the working class north they are 10 a penny where I grew up. Some of them were dog aggressive and some not, all of them were family pets and without fail were loyal, loving dogs who played with the kids with no problems.
I'm not saying that there are no Staffies which are human aggressive, and to be fair, if you do come across one you have altogether a far bigger problem than a jack Russell hanging off your ankle, but the breed on the whole, from evidence I have seen myself and from the opinions of many many other experienced rescuers is that a breed in general they are very tolerant of children.

My FIL had a gorgeous friendly St Bernard, but the sheer strength of him, when on the lead and seeing his doggy friend once, he charged towards friend and FIL fell over as unable to hold him.

I know my own strength < or the lack of it> and decided on small dogs that I had the strength to control. But no matter how small, they can all outrun me!
Many large dogs are gentle giants, it is their size and strength that can be a problem.
Very unwise to buy any adult dog having seen it only once, and your sis is thoughtless to expect you to have it when you have small DC.

Some Staffies are known to be aggressive towards other dogs, in my experience male /male. But very loving with humans.

The Mastiff breed standard says that they are supposed to be calm and affectionate towards owners and reserved with strangers, of course with any dog from an unknown source there could be issues - but that's what the breed traits are. I'd class mastiffs more as a guarding breed anyway tbh.

But even if you accept that it's a fighting breed, fighting breed dogs are bred for certain traits, powerful bites, dog aggression, tenacity and not human aggression. If you're the kind of low life that gets off on dog fighting, you need to be able to catch a dog that's just been fighting and is probably injured to take it home and you can't do that if the dog is then going to turn on you. Dog aggressive is not the same as human aggressive.

So it's not the breed that's a problem...taking on a half grown dog with an unknown background could well end badly - but not because of what breed it is.

I feel really sad whenever I hear someone's frightened of large breeds, especially bully breeds.

They're such sweet and loving dogs when in a loving environment.

I have a bit of a mantra: there are no bad breeds, only bad owners.

twattybollocks has is spot on. Dogs bred to be aggressive to other dogs says little about their attitudes to humans. The saddest thing I read about staffies is that they make good fighting dogs because they are so desparate to please their human owners. I have a staffie, she is completely soft, scared of the cats and lets my 8 year old pull and drag her about at whim. As far as I understand it they are one of only a few breeds that the Kennel Club recommend for children.

BUT I have had her as a puppy, took her to training classes, have lived with her for a year and a half so am pretty sure about her temperament.

i think it would be very unwise to have lots of interactions between a little child and ANY dog unless you were all pretty sure about that dog's temperament. And I don't think a child of that age should be left unsupervised with ANY dog.

So let the dog settle in with your sister, get a feel for his personality and how he has been trained and take it slow.

The protectiveness is another thing that concerns me... DSis has a fairly firey relationship with her 'D'P at times so I'm worried about the dog trying to 'step in' when they argue...
I know its none of my business though, its her life, her choices even though she is my little sister, I'm just not prepared to put my son in a potentially dangerous situation because she's a bit of a d*ck sometimes under-informed and over-confident.
I do really appreciate the advice and reassurance though on here, you've all been very kind

Regarding a dog "stepping in", we have German shepherds, and a pool (we're abroad). I don't go in the pool because of my OH's idea of fun. DDs were in the pool, OH playfully tried to push me in and the dog sauntered over to shove OH aside and stand between us. This dog has never been aggressive (we refer to him as the teddy bear) but he was most definitely protecting me.

A dog doesn't have to bite or attack in any way to intervene, but if they do feel a need to intervene and the aggressor (in the dog's eyes) doesn't back off there could be an escalation.

That's not meant to be scaremongering, but as has already been said, animals are unpredictable.

Charle
You must have a large house/rooms.
Love your descriptions of the individual personalities. All so different
The 3 girls, 1 is a " tart" other a " a narky bitch" and other spooks easily.
The boys - I love the sound of the really laid back beautiful Dude.